digital photo printing

Digital cameras

Camcorders

Accessories

Brands

Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Check our low price

Product Description The dramatic Canon VIXIA HV30 incorporates advanced features to bring knowledgeable and demanding videographers the ultimate in HD video and digital photo quality. The VIXIA HV30 is packed with Canon exclusive features you won't find anywhere else. Canon's full HD CMOS sensor and advanced DIGIC DV II image processor deliver breathtaking detail and the best in color reproduction. SuperRange optical image stabilization and instant auto focus gives you the shot control high definition demands. With the genuine Canon 10x HD video zoom lens and a host of other advanced features the VIXIA HV30 is sure to be your choice in high definition camcorders. And, with its HD and standard definition recording modes, you can make the move to HD without making your SD equipment obsolete.The VIXIA HV30 is easy to use and delivers the high level of performance you've come to expect from Canon. It's the next step in premium quality high definition camcorders for which sophisticated and discerning videographers have been waiting. Reviews Canon should be more clear about the compatibility of this camcorder with Mac computers. The video on the camcorder is quite clear and it seems to be a good enough camcorder, but the hassle of trying to figure out how to get it to work with my Mac computer has made it completely un-worth it. I wish I would have bought a cheaper, but easier to use camera. MAC USERS PAY ATTENTION HERE - I will say what Canon should clearly say but doesn't. Your Mac computer will not recognize this camcorder if you try to hook the camcorder up via the included USB cable. I have scoured hundreds of forums trying to figure this out and it is the same everywhere - it will not recognize your camcorder with a USB connection. That means one of two things: Either you need to buy a Firewire cable (if you don't have one) and connect the camcorder to your computer via Firewire OR, if you are like me and you have the MacBook that came out in October of 2008 without Firewire, there is NO WAY to get the video from this camcorder to your computer. This should be made clear by Canon and it is not which, no matter how good the camera is, makes using it very difficult. I would not buy this again if I had the choice. It hasn't been worth the hassle of figuring all this out. Read this quickly and order one of these RIGHT NOW before they are extinct! My neighbor is a professional videographer who advised me to go with TAPE and not get sucked into the hard drive craze. We were leaving on an expensive vacation and I intended to take lots of scenic footage of the countryside in Norway. He said if you drop your hard drive camcorder at the end of your trip you may lose everything. Your tape cassettes are safe in your luggage and you can pry the last one out of the camcorder wreckage and most likely salvage those images too! Tape is a long-proven technology so don't be too quick to dismiss it. The picture quality is as fine as his pro 3 chip camera, in his opinion. If I had a gripe, I would say the handgrip and strap are connected to the tape access door and feels just a tiny bit insecure because there is some play in the latch system. Nothing bad ever happened, but the strap is your only connection to your camcorder and it is disconcerting. I am going to attach a neck or wrist strap to augment the hand strap next trip. The motor operated iris lenscap is 10X better than a cap dangling from a string. A great buy! This is a great little (very) video camera that has a cult following that makes it very easy to get all kinds of tips and tricks for giving it even greater capabilities. The image quality is amazing, and 10 years ago I would have never expected to get such quality from a camera in this price range. I have friends using these for shooting tv commercials and travelogue shows with great results. The cons: it is tiny and all the little buttons are tiny. The zoom lever, and manual focus adjuster are tiny and it feels like the whole thing must be very fragile. The covers for the hotshoe and cables are tethered and cannot be removed with out cutting the tethering... and they are annoying. Other than that I love it... While file-based acquisition will be the way to go in the future, for now, this little baby gives me just what I'm looking for - a fantastic HDV acquisition with tape-based backup. The color fidelity is fantastic, the image stabilization works very well. If you do your own editing, the bandwidth of the HDV video is well within the capabilities of most PC's and Macs. Get yourself a decent editing system and you will be surprised at what you can get out of this camera. Some have complained about the joystick location. Is it perfect? No. But it is very functional and you should have no problem living with it. Like any camera, you have to learn its functions and capabilities and then make adjustments to those configurations. The accessory shoe is a nice touch, allowing anyone to add a higher quality shotgun mic to the unit for better sound. While the manual focus could be a little quicker (I would love it if the camera had the ability to pull focus more quickly) the automatic mode works very well. It finds focus incredibly fast. I am very impressed with the macro focusing capabilities of this camera. With proper stabilization and a little imagination you can create your own Discovery insects show! (if you are so inclined) Seriously, you can get GREAT closeups of flowers, insects, you name it. I'm just beginning to play with the cinema mode to see how closely it emulates a film-look. For the price and the features I am well pleased with this camera. I have been incredibly happy with this camera. Even with its base settings it gives a gorgeous, clear picture, with great color. On top of that it has plenty of custom settings to tweak your image. I've had it for weeks and I still haven't figured out how to get the most out of it. It has component, and HDMI outputs, alongside the standard AV, and firewire jacks. It also has a mic input, and a viewfinder (which a lot of models are dropping nowadays). The LCD does it job, but when you're outside the viewfinder is invaluable. I've been using this thing a lot and I'm constantly impressed by the way it captures an image. And it's got a price point that's hard to say no to. I know this isn't a very technical review but all I can say for a fact is that this thing is more then any home user will ever need, and great for a entry level videomaker.